NOAA Shafts Mac Users During a Tsunami?

NOAA, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, announced the availability of a new online tool showing Hawaii’s tsunami evacuation zones. With this tool, you can search for your address to check if you’re in a flooding zone and also get preparedness information should a tsunami occur.

The Tsunami Hazard Information Service sounds like a great step for public safety… unless you’re a Mac user. Did you see the small caption at the bottom of the graphic depicting the NOAA website in the Honolulu Advertiser article? It says:

Note: Apple and Mac users may have difficulty accessing the information.

Hey, what’s with that? A cool new public safety tool that doesn’t work for a segment of the on-line community, namely Mac users? What kind of design is that? Sounds a little reckless if you ask me.

Or, the actual problem could be Google’s. The Tsunami Hazard Information Service uses Google Maps fused with NOAA data to create the maps of evacuation zones. And despite Apple and Google’s partnership, Safari does have some compatibility problems with Google Maps.

Wonder if Squirrel Boy’s (Google CEO Eric Schmidt) visit to Steve Jobs at Apple was to address this glaring disservice to public safety?

Technorati Tags: Apple, Google, Macintosh